Serves 8

Directions

To make the pastry crust, place the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse once or twice to combine.

Add the butter and pulse only until the mixture resembles coarse meal, or until the butter has been cut into pea-size pieces.

Add the ice water to the flour while pulsing; pulse until just incorporated. If mixture seems dry and doesn't stick together when squeezed in your palm, add a little more water and pulse a few more times.

Turn the dough out of the food processor onto a lightly floured surface. Gently bring the dough together to form a cohesive ball. Divide the ball in two and flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. (Note: Dough can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator, or freeze the dough and keep it for up to 3 months.)

To make the filling, whisk 1 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Stir in the cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425F.

To assemble the pie, roll out one of the pastry disks on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round.

Transfer the pastry round to a 9-inch glass or porcelain pie dish and trim the dough so that it overhangs the dish by about 1/2-inch. Fill the pastry-lined dish with the cherry filling.

Roll out the second pastry disk, also to a 12-inch round. Using a pizza cutter, knife or fluted wheel cut 10 to 12 strips, each about 1/2-inch wide, from the pastry round.

Lay half of the strips in one direction across the pie, gently pressing the ends of the strips into the edge of the pie dough. Top these strips with the other half of the strips, laying them perpendicular to the first set to create a lattice. Trim the ends of the strips to a 1/2-inch overhang if necessary.

Fold the 1/2-inch overhang of the bottom pastry dough up and over the ends of the lattice strips to secure the strips and create a finished crust. Use your finger to press the crust at 1/2-inch intervals all the way around the crust to crimp and seal the edge. Brush the lattice pieces with a little milk and then sprinkle the lattice with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375F and continue baking until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes to 1 hour longer.

Cool the pie on a wire rack. Cut the pie into wedges and serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, if you like.